Tail Bag

I wasn't digging my alternative saddlebag option, which wasn't really a true saddlebag anyway.

I went to the local surplus store and picked up a $7 canvas army gas mask bag, and a $2 bungee cord. I removed the seat and looped the bungee through either end of the frame. Then I just attached the bungee hooks to either side of the bag and voilà! A tail bag!

Of course there not a ton of room in there, but it can hold a cable lock for my helmet, a leatherman-like multi-tool, a disc lock and a little room left over for other small items. Plus I still have the cargo net for bigger stuff. This ought to hold me over until I fork out some cash for saddlebag mounts.

Rock Store Run

Since we finally had a sunny weekend, I decided to check out the Rock Store. So many people say that if you ride, you should check it out at least once. I mostly just wanted to go on a longish ride, and most of the time I don't like going on any kind of voyage without some kind of destination. It can be something really arbitrary, I just like to have a reference point. Given it's location, The Rock Store makes a great one, which is it's main selling point in my mind.

I took the side streets from West Hollywood to Santa Monica, then shot up PCH to Malibu. I went early so the traffic was light and stress levels low. It was a nice 55mph affair with long gently winding stretches. The skies had turned a bit overcast as I entered Malibu, and then cut East on Kanan Dume. Lots of green and smooth windy roads. I was able to open up the throttle without having to worry about any surprises. There were far less motorcycles and high octane sports cars than I expected, which was nice. Most of the time I felt like I had these beautiful roads all to myself. In fact, there were more cyclist than anything else, which makes sense given that this is a hill climber's paradise.

Next there was a right on Mullholland to get up to my destination. OK, so HERE is where it gets hairy! Lots of tight turns combined with ascents and descents. Being a novice, I had to take things VERY slowly to avoid flying off the mountain, or running into, well, anything! I'm still getting to know what my motorcycle and I are capable of, and I wasn't willing to take any chances here.


At last, there was the Rock Store up on the right. There's no missing it. I arrived around 8:30 am and there were already a couple of rows of around 30 motorcycles. I hear it gets a lot more crowded later in the day. I bought a $2 cup of coffee and spent about 45 minutes kicking tires and chopping it up with a couple of guys. I didn't try any grub, but it looked like the kind of greasy diner food I admittedly have a weakness for.

As for the Rock Store itself, it could really be just about any sort of landmark and it would be worth going for all of the nice scenic riding necessary to get there, to see a lot of other motorcycle styles up close, and to talk to other riders about motorcycles. I would definitely go back, and hopefully next time I can learn to enjoy those twisties instead of white knuckling the whole way!

Tunnel Of Love

Stock Mufflers

After all of my exhaust craziness, somehow I ended up with 2 sets of stock mufflers to unload!

HELL. YES.

Mods v. Rockers

First Oil Change

Here's everything I used for my first oil change. I went with Motul 15W-50 and a Triumph oil filter. I bought everything at the local dealer except for the oil pan and the filter wrench (they wanted to charge me $22 for one!)



It was a pretty simple job. The only hassle is getting an accurate oil level without a center stand for the bike. Luckily my girlfriend helped me level her out so I could make sure I got the right level.



Now I know my bike has fresh oil and that's one less thing to worry about!